Jonnyboy
23-12-2017, 06:37 PM
Last week’s drubbing at Pittodrie caused quite a downturn in my mood, in relation to how things are going for us this season. I brooded on it for a few days, disappointed that there wasn’t even one crumb of comfort to think of in a positive sense, but slowly I came round to the view that we’d had two very high intensity challenges in facing both Celtic and the Rangers before we seemed to completely run out of steam against the Dons. On reflection I’d have settled for losing to Celtic, where we fought hard for a point many felt our play didn’t deserve and cuffing the Rangers where we most definitely deserved all three points. As it was, one point from the three games was a poor return but it must be taken into account that even after that poor run, our league position was impressive and surely about where we could expect to be at this stage.
Having watched a quite breathtaking 3-3 draw when Arsenal faced Liverpool in the EPL on Friday night, I wasn’t convinced I’d witness the same kind of intensity when Hibs lined up to play Ross County and right enough, it was no Christmas cracker but what it was, was a deserved three points and a gutsy performance in having to come from behind against a team set up to simply frustrate their opponents.
Hibs started brightly and from the off they got at the County defence but the final ball wasn’t quite right as young Oli Shaw, who had a fantastic game in my opinion, toiled manfully to bring team mates into play. Playing three at the back cost us after about fifteen minutes when a driven cross eluded everyone in the middle and reached Chris Eagles at the back post. Eagles had all the time in the world to take a touch before drilling the ball low into the six yard area where Curran reacted quickest to steer the ball beyond Marciano although Rocky got a touch but couldn’t keep the ball out.
Thankfully, around the twenty minute mark, good build up play from Boyle and McGeouch saw the latter deliver a ball into the box where Stokes outjumped Andrew Davies to send a header into the net via a post. Hibs pushed hard after that and a delightful forward pass by McGeouch found Stokes at the edge of the County box. The Hibs man took a touch and then cracked his shot high and wide when a low effort would probably have resulted in a second goal. Further efforts from Boyle and Shaw were saved by Scott Fox and despite having the majority of possession; Hibs went into the break tied at 1-1.
Given that I was in hospitality today, rather than my usual perch in the East Stand, I didn’t have the usual punters sitting around me. I did enjoy the company of my brother, nephew, Mikey from Hibs.net and his sister and nephew but we were all left shaking our heads at the stuff being shouted by one near-by punter who continually ripped into John McGinn and insisted Hibs should push forward, often when we didn’t even have the ball! Some of the stuff he shouted was quite amusing and his comment that took the biscuit for me was when County had a free kick about twenty-five yards out and he shouted “C’mon Omar, get yer wall sorted.” Clearly he thinks our keeper is Omar Ficiano.
For large parts of the second half, Hibs dominated the ball and made a few chances with Scott Fox in the County goal making excellent saves from Stokes and Boyle efforts. I’d reached the stage of saying to my nephew I was getting a bit fed up of dominating games and not winning them when a low ball into the County six yard box from Barker saw a clutch of players attack the ball at the front post. At the time I thought it was Oli who got the final touch to put the ball in the net but I’ve since been told it was an own goal off van der Weg. I do feel that Oli pressured the defender into making the mistake so plus points to him for that. There was still a good fifteen minutes left after that and Hibs should really have gone 3-1 up when a quite stunning diagonal ball from Stokes released Boyler in the box but once again Scott Fox denied him.
When the final whistle blew, the cheers were loud and deserved, the result being made all the sweeter as scores came through confirming Aberdeen and the Rangers had both lost and Hearts had only managed to scrape a draw away to St. Johnstone. The Aberdeen and Rangers results specifically allowed us to lessen the gap as the race for second place continues.
The players
Rocky – unlucky at the goal but the County player was so close to the net it would have been a miracle if he’d saved it. Rocky’s had some stick recently because of errors made but in the 3-3 draw I mentioned earlier, both Mignolet and Cech made shocking errors, proving that keepers are indeed fallible.
Efe – one specific Efe moment and a few that could easily have become Efe moments but overall I thought he played well. Last week there were howls of derision from Aberdeen fans when Efe was on the ball. Today, when some felt he wasn’t playing the ball forward quickly enough, the noise level of displeasure went up which cannot be a good thing for the player to hear.
Daz – despite Billy McKay barging into him every time they challenged for a high ball, Daz was excellent in the air and deserved better protection from an inept referee, more of whom later.
Paul – was excellent throughout, reading the game well and distributing the ball intelligently. It’s become the norm from Paul and we just take it for granted which is a shame because his quality can sometimes go unheralded.
Boyler – Martin had a fantastic first half and on occasion he ran the County defenders ragged. It’s a shame he missed two chances that were effectively one-on-one’s but it’s heartening that he was in place to attempt them, rather than on his heels which occurred a few times at Pittodrie.
Dylan – I thought the wee man was great today. He uses the ball so intelligently, is dogged in the challenge and very good in the air given his lack of height. One particular ball to send Stokes through was truly outstanding.
SLM – despite the claims of “Omar’s” adviser, I thought SJM did well today and never stopped trying to drive us forward. If I had any complaint about his contribution it’s that his corners and free kicks are generally of poor quality and for a player of his ability that’s a bit of a mystery.
Lewis – once again the wee man was on the top of his game both defensively and as the wide left man in a midfield of five with numerous forays forward. Midway into the second half he combined brilliantly with Stokes, releasing the striker in the box with a slide rule pass.
Brandon – it seems that breathtaking is my word of the day as on a number of occasions, Brandon made breathtaking runs at the County defence and literally had them terrified of challenging him. One minor gripe is that I feel he has to be a bit braver in fifty/fifty situations; he’s done it before but he needs to do it more often.
Stokesy – ex-Hibee Ian Murray was a guest speaker in hospitality and before the game he suggested that Stokesy would show his true worth today and it has to be said, Stokesy never let him down. I thought he was fantastic throughout and on another day could have had a hat-trick. There were two or three today vying for my man of the match award but Stokesy edges it.
Oli – I’ve read a few times on here that folk don’t think Oli is ready for the rough and tumble of the top league. I’ve also read the view that he needs to bulk up to tussle with top league defenders. Today, in my opinion, he disproved both of those concerns as he played against the experienced Andrew Davies and came out on top. His first touch was great as was his positional awareness and I lost count of the number of times he held Davies at bay when laying the ball off to a teammate.
Marv – big Marv only got the last couple of minutes of normal time and the three added by the referee. I only recall him touching the ball once and that was when his header fell kindly for a County player but thankfully no harm was done.
Neil – got it spot on today with both his selection and tactics. Sitting in the West Lower I was able to watch him in his technical area and reckon he must go home exhausted after a game because he never sits still!
The ref – Nick Walsh was poor today, for both teams and not just Hibs. I don’t think he played the advantage rule once and he drew the ire of the home support on many occasions. On one of those, Lewis was driving forward towards the County box, was held and pulled no fewer than three times before being tripped and Walsh waved play on. John Beaton was the fourth official today and must have been seriously worried that Walsh would take over the mantle of Scotland’s most inept whistler.
The fans – I’m not sure if it was because I was in the West rather than the East today but I heard the guys in the FF Upper loud and clear on occasions. I have to say though that there were periods of the game when the crowd was very quiet. Hopefully we’ll all find our voices for the Derby in midweek.
Having watched a quite breathtaking 3-3 draw when Arsenal faced Liverpool in the EPL on Friday night, I wasn’t convinced I’d witness the same kind of intensity when Hibs lined up to play Ross County and right enough, it was no Christmas cracker but what it was, was a deserved three points and a gutsy performance in having to come from behind against a team set up to simply frustrate their opponents.
Hibs started brightly and from the off they got at the County defence but the final ball wasn’t quite right as young Oli Shaw, who had a fantastic game in my opinion, toiled manfully to bring team mates into play. Playing three at the back cost us after about fifteen minutes when a driven cross eluded everyone in the middle and reached Chris Eagles at the back post. Eagles had all the time in the world to take a touch before drilling the ball low into the six yard area where Curran reacted quickest to steer the ball beyond Marciano although Rocky got a touch but couldn’t keep the ball out.
Thankfully, around the twenty minute mark, good build up play from Boyle and McGeouch saw the latter deliver a ball into the box where Stokes outjumped Andrew Davies to send a header into the net via a post. Hibs pushed hard after that and a delightful forward pass by McGeouch found Stokes at the edge of the County box. The Hibs man took a touch and then cracked his shot high and wide when a low effort would probably have resulted in a second goal. Further efforts from Boyle and Shaw were saved by Scott Fox and despite having the majority of possession; Hibs went into the break tied at 1-1.
Given that I was in hospitality today, rather than my usual perch in the East Stand, I didn’t have the usual punters sitting around me. I did enjoy the company of my brother, nephew, Mikey from Hibs.net and his sister and nephew but we were all left shaking our heads at the stuff being shouted by one near-by punter who continually ripped into John McGinn and insisted Hibs should push forward, often when we didn’t even have the ball! Some of the stuff he shouted was quite amusing and his comment that took the biscuit for me was when County had a free kick about twenty-five yards out and he shouted “C’mon Omar, get yer wall sorted.” Clearly he thinks our keeper is Omar Ficiano.
For large parts of the second half, Hibs dominated the ball and made a few chances with Scott Fox in the County goal making excellent saves from Stokes and Boyle efforts. I’d reached the stage of saying to my nephew I was getting a bit fed up of dominating games and not winning them when a low ball into the County six yard box from Barker saw a clutch of players attack the ball at the front post. At the time I thought it was Oli who got the final touch to put the ball in the net but I’ve since been told it was an own goal off van der Weg. I do feel that Oli pressured the defender into making the mistake so plus points to him for that. There was still a good fifteen minutes left after that and Hibs should really have gone 3-1 up when a quite stunning diagonal ball from Stokes released Boyler in the box but once again Scott Fox denied him.
When the final whistle blew, the cheers were loud and deserved, the result being made all the sweeter as scores came through confirming Aberdeen and the Rangers had both lost and Hearts had only managed to scrape a draw away to St. Johnstone. The Aberdeen and Rangers results specifically allowed us to lessen the gap as the race for second place continues.
The players
Rocky – unlucky at the goal but the County player was so close to the net it would have been a miracle if he’d saved it. Rocky’s had some stick recently because of errors made but in the 3-3 draw I mentioned earlier, both Mignolet and Cech made shocking errors, proving that keepers are indeed fallible.
Efe – one specific Efe moment and a few that could easily have become Efe moments but overall I thought he played well. Last week there were howls of derision from Aberdeen fans when Efe was on the ball. Today, when some felt he wasn’t playing the ball forward quickly enough, the noise level of displeasure went up which cannot be a good thing for the player to hear.
Daz – despite Billy McKay barging into him every time they challenged for a high ball, Daz was excellent in the air and deserved better protection from an inept referee, more of whom later.
Paul – was excellent throughout, reading the game well and distributing the ball intelligently. It’s become the norm from Paul and we just take it for granted which is a shame because his quality can sometimes go unheralded.
Boyler – Martin had a fantastic first half and on occasion he ran the County defenders ragged. It’s a shame he missed two chances that were effectively one-on-one’s but it’s heartening that he was in place to attempt them, rather than on his heels which occurred a few times at Pittodrie.
Dylan – I thought the wee man was great today. He uses the ball so intelligently, is dogged in the challenge and very good in the air given his lack of height. One particular ball to send Stokes through was truly outstanding.
SLM – despite the claims of “Omar’s” adviser, I thought SJM did well today and never stopped trying to drive us forward. If I had any complaint about his contribution it’s that his corners and free kicks are generally of poor quality and for a player of his ability that’s a bit of a mystery.
Lewis – once again the wee man was on the top of his game both defensively and as the wide left man in a midfield of five with numerous forays forward. Midway into the second half he combined brilliantly with Stokes, releasing the striker in the box with a slide rule pass.
Brandon – it seems that breathtaking is my word of the day as on a number of occasions, Brandon made breathtaking runs at the County defence and literally had them terrified of challenging him. One minor gripe is that I feel he has to be a bit braver in fifty/fifty situations; he’s done it before but he needs to do it more often.
Stokesy – ex-Hibee Ian Murray was a guest speaker in hospitality and before the game he suggested that Stokesy would show his true worth today and it has to be said, Stokesy never let him down. I thought he was fantastic throughout and on another day could have had a hat-trick. There were two or three today vying for my man of the match award but Stokesy edges it.
Oli – I’ve read a few times on here that folk don’t think Oli is ready for the rough and tumble of the top league. I’ve also read the view that he needs to bulk up to tussle with top league defenders. Today, in my opinion, he disproved both of those concerns as he played against the experienced Andrew Davies and came out on top. His first touch was great as was his positional awareness and I lost count of the number of times he held Davies at bay when laying the ball off to a teammate.
Marv – big Marv only got the last couple of minutes of normal time and the three added by the referee. I only recall him touching the ball once and that was when his header fell kindly for a County player but thankfully no harm was done.
Neil – got it spot on today with both his selection and tactics. Sitting in the West Lower I was able to watch him in his technical area and reckon he must go home exhausted after a game because he never sits still!
The ref – Nick Walsh was poor today, for both teams and not just Hibs. I don’t think he played the advantage rule once and he drew the ire of the home support on many occasions. On one of those, Lewis was driving forward towards the County box, was held and pulled no fewer than three times before being tripped and Walsh waved play on. John Beaton was the fourth official today and must have been seriously worried that Walsh would take over the mantle of Scotland’s most inept whistler.
The fans – I’m not sure if it was because I was in the West rather than the East today but I heard the guys in the FF Upper loud and clear on occasions. I have to say though that there were periods of the game when the crowd was very quiet. Hopefully we’ll all find our voices for the Derby in midweek.